Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
20 Years of Nevermind
20 years ago today Nirvana released Nevermind, and w/in a few months my friend Atta would introduce me to Nirvana, PJ, and more. I can't believe it's been 20 yrs. Thanks Kurt & Co for a great 2 decades.
StarBlazers
watching StarBlazers on Netflix, an old anime about resurrecting the battleship Yamamoto as a space ship standing btwn Earth & doom. I own the old Comico comic books, but was never a huge fan.
Congrats to the Milwaukee Brewers, 2011 NL Central Division Champions!
Here's something you don't see everyday. To be more precise, here's something you see once every 29 years here in Milwaukee. To be even more precise, every 29 years and 25 minutes:
Tonight, riding on the back of a clutch 3 run home run by Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the NL Central Division title. It is the first divisional championship the Brewers have held since 1982, back when Reagan was President, the Soviet Union was a superpower, barely anyone owned computers and I was 8 years old.
Congrats to the Brewers. It's not *quite* as fun for me as 2008, when we clinched our first playoff run since that magical 1982 season, but it's a whopper none-the-less.
Good luck in October!
Tonight, riding on the back of a clutch 3 run home run by Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the NL Central Division title. It is the first divisional championship the Brewers have held since 1982, back when Reagan was President, the Soviet Union was a superpower, barely anyone owned computers and I was 8 years old.
Congrats to the Brewers. It's not *quite* as fun for me as 2008, when we clinched our first playoff run since that magical 1982 season, but it's a whopper none-the-less.
Good luck in October!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Season of the Witch
Let me summarize Nic Cage's 'Season of the Witch': anti-Christian to a vile degree, full of ret-conned history and belief, and Cage does an English accent ala Costner. Grade: F.
Yessss! Finalllly!
Well, it's about time! The Milwaukee Brewers have clinched their first division title since 1982 (when I was eight!). Congrats!
I signed in as a Facebook developer and enabled the new Timeline feature. I'm sure they'll be some horrific breach of privacy involved w/ it down the road, but at first glance the dang thing is wickedly awesome.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
Yesterday I finished reading Christopher Buehlman's debut novel "Those Across the River" It's a gothic horror story set in rural Georgia in the 1930's. It is WONDERFUL, a dark decent into terror tempered by Buehlman's smooth, poetic language. I enthusiastically recommend this book. Wonderful.
The Media takes a moral stand - When it's Good for Business
I don't want to turn this age into a political battleground, as I'm content with its move towards "Daddy Blog" but I am bothered by the media and popular reaction to the execution of *convicted* cop-killer Troy Davis.
In the 20 years since the murder his side has certainly won the 'battle of the press' and fostered a myth around his actions that day, and the identity of the 'real' killer.
I wasn't there. I also didn't run the investigation and see every bit of evidence, both that which saw light in the courtroom and that which was ruled inadmissible. I didn't sit on the jury and weigh the pros and cons of what was in front of me. I didn't sit on any of the judicial reviews and comb through the evidence again and again.
So I don't know if he was truly guilty, and I never will. Of course, unless your bio reads different than mine, neither do you. So, lacking any personal evidence and unaware of any conspiracy theory that doesn't reek of fiction, I will support the decision made by the judicial process and reaffirmed by it time and time again.
Do I support the death penalty? Yes. I'm not overly keen on it, but I have no moral outrage at the thought of a killer meeting his end at the end of a (legal) rope. On the other hand, having spent the last 37 years in a state without the death penalty, I don't yearn for its expansion.
Is it merely legal revenge? I think that's an overused argument. To some extent all punishment is a matter of vengeance, simply by its nature, but if our system was geared towards that goal alone there'd be a lot more 'tit for tat' sentences out there. The last time I checked battery convictions don't result in a state ordered beatings. It seems to me that the death penalty is, like it or not, what it's advertised to be: a dramatic, supreme penalty for a heinous crime.
But let's switch gears. Put aside Davis' innocence/lack thereof aside. I am appalled - and I do not use that word lightly - at the hypocrisy of the political left. A consistent running theme of this media circus has not been the Davis case itself, but how the death penalty as an institution is a black mark against our society. Any such use of our judicial power, I have read time and again, soils our collective soul.
As I write this, CNN.com is leading with a story that reads "Troy Davis may be dead, but his execution has made him the symbol for the global movement to end the death penalty." Actor Alec Baldwin has tweeted non-stop on the issue in the last 12 hours, and among his doozies is:
Wonder if the [cop's]family will seek death penalty for US leaders who killed thousands of US soldiers and countless innocent Iraqis
Which leads me to my point. This isn't about Davis. It isn't about race. It isn't about justice, or changing the world. It's all about a blind reflexive devotion to your clique, in this instance the 'cool kids' who believe their primo seat in the cafeteria depends upon their devotion to Davis. (BTW, Alec Baldwin is a smart man. But I would lay down money that most of the celebs yapping about Davis couldn't pick him out of a lineup - no pun intended).
What evidence do I have for this? Well, there's this: earlier in the day, mere hours before Davis met his end, a Texas man was executed. I heard no great media defense of this man, no strong and unwavering devotion to the philosophical notion that state sponsored killing was wrong.
Why not? Because the Texas case wasn't good theater. He was a white man, an admitted racist, who was convicted of the brutal dragging death of a black man fifteen years ago.
Apparently, public objections to the death penalty are decided not by a consistent moral code but by whether or not you can get some good press out of the deal. And a racist white guy just doesn't fit the bill.
I am saddened, not by the death of two human beings who in all likelihood had no compunction about dealing out death themselves, but by a society that seems all the more fragmented and shallow because of the existence of a man named Troy Davis.
That may be his biggest crime of all.
In the 20 years since the murder his side has certainly won the 'battle of the press' and fostered a myth around his actions that day, and the identity of the 'real' killer.
I wasn't there. I also didn't run the investigation and see every bit of evidence, both that which saw light in the courtroom and that which was ruled inadmissible. I didn't sit on the jury and weigh the pros and cons of what was in front of me. I didn't sit on any of the judicial reviews and comb through the evidence again and again.
So I don't know if he was truly guilty, and I never will. Of course, unless your bio reads different than mine, neither do you. So, lacking any personal evidence and unaware of any conspiracy theory that doesn't reek of fiction, I will support the decision made by the judicial process and reaffirmed by it time and time again.
Do I support the death penalty? Yes. I'm not overly keen on it, but I have no moral outrage at the thought of a killer meeting his end at the end of a (legal) rope. On the other hand, having spent the last 37 years in a state without the death penalty, I don't yearn for its expansion.
Is it merely legal revenge? I think that's an overused argument. To some extent all punishment is a matter of vengeance, simply by its nature, but if our system was geared towards that goal alone there'd be a lot more 'tit for tat' sentences out there. The last time I checked battery convictions don't result in a state ordered beatings. It seems to me that the death penalty is, like it or not, what it's advertised to be: a dramatic, supreme penalty for a heinous crime.
But let's switch gears. Put aside Davis' innocence/lack thereof aside. I am appalled - and I do not use that word lightly - at the hypocrisy of the political left. A consistent running theme of this media circus has not been the Davis case itself, but how the death penalty as an institution is a black mark against our society. Any such use of our judicial power, I have read time and again, soils our collective soul.
As I write this, CNN.com is leading with a story that reads "Troy Davis may be dead, but his execution has made him the symbol for the global movement to end the death penalty." Actor Alec Baldwin has tweeted non-stop on the issue in the last 12 hours, and among his doozies is:
Wonder if the [cop's]family will seek death penalty for US leaders who killed thousands of US soldiers and countless innocent Iraqis
Which leads me to my point. This isn't about Davis. It isn't about race. It isn't about justice, or changing the world. It's all about a blind reflexive devotion to your clique, in this instance the 'cool kids' who believe their primo seat in the cafeteria depends upon their devotion to Davis. (BTW, Alec Baldwin is a smart man. But I would lay down money that most of the celebs yapping about Davis couldn't pick him out of a lineup - no pun intended).
What evidence do I have for this? Well, there's this: earlier in the day, mere hours before Davis met his end, a Texas man was executed. I heard no great media defense of this man, no strong and unwavering devotion to the philosophical notion that state sponsored killing was wrong.
Why not? Because the Texas case wasn't good theater. He was a white man, an admitted racist, who was convicted of the brutal dragging death of a black man fifteen years ago.
Apparently, public objections to the death penalty are decided not by a consistent moral code but by whether or not you can get some good press out of the deal. And a racist white guy just doesn't fit the bill.
I am saddened, not by the death of two human beings who in all likelihood had no compunction about dealing out death themselves, but by a society that seems all the more fragmented and shallow because of the existence of a man named Troy Davis.
That may be his biggest crime of all.
Found
Clara Tung, the missing 11 yr old Greendale girl police were searching for, has.been found unharmed.
Convenient
The word 'convenient' is the most inconvenient word for me to spell in the whole dang language. I just wrestled with it for two minutes trying to reply to a job, spelling it so 'off' spellcheck couldn't offer any advice. Geesh!
Boo
grouchy & under the weather. I went to bed early but woke up 90 min later feeling like crud. Now debating benefits of netflix vs going back to bed. I'll let u know who wins ;)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Congrats to my Yanks!
Congrats to my Yanks for clinching a playoff spot for the 16th time in 17 seasons - as if there was ever any doubt :)
Day of Fire
Reading 'Day of Fire', a chapter in Dubya's autobiography. I got the chills when he described his trip to NYC after the attacks.
RIP REM
After 31 years together, REM announced today they are "calling it a day" and disbanding. R(etire)IP guys.
FB - May 11th thru the 17th
May 11th
Congrats to Prince Fielder for hitting his 200th home run.
May 12th
08:29 out for coffee w/ Lisa [this is as rare as snow in July]
@ least 68 people are dead in Pakistan as a result of Al-Queda attacks
May 13th
Master Yourself
you're up to the hubs in mud, stockjobber
Sen. Herb Kohl has announced he will not seek re-election
A man in the Canary Islands decapitates an apparent stranger in a supermarket
May 14th
Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew has announced he will be entering hospice
The silent movie "Saved From the Titanic" starring survivor Dorothy Gibson was released on this day in 1912. In the film she wore the same dress she work during the sinking. Sadly, the film was destroyed in a fire and no copy seems to remain.
An afternoon of compromise. W/ Lis & YaYa gone shopping, Netflix failed so I found a college gymnastics tourney for Lu to watch. We're starving, so I set out to make tuna casserole, but in the end found no soup, so we're eating noodles, peas, and tuna dry. Thankfully, Lu seems to love both. She's entranced by the gymnastics for sure.
May 16th
Lagniappe (lan-yap) This word is Cajun for "something extra," like the extra donut in a baker's dozen. An unexpected nice surprise.
20 years ago today (IIR the date right, and I usually do), I was confirmed in the Catholic Church. The retreat that preceded the ceremony was one of the turning points in my life. There was a clear, defined moment when I looked at who I was and who I wanted to be and realized the two were worlds apart. The last 2 decades would not be possible w/out that insight.
Before school LuLu and I went to the local high school in hopes of retrieving a necklace she'd left behind after a [rec swim] class this past weekend. I didn't think there was a chance in hell of it still being around, but lo and behold there it be. Storing it in a broken locker with a smashed, askew door probably helped her cause.
The Sahara Casino in Las Vegas is closing after 58 years
Given 10 min unsupervised, Lump decorated the vanity, sink, toilet, her clothing and her face with lipstick & eye shadow. We cleaned it up, yelled at her, & then sat down in the living room. I still had an angry, PO'd look on my face. "Just drop the act, she's out of the room" Lis said. "You know you live for this sh-t." I LOL'd - she's right.
Donald Trump has announced he is NOT running for President in 2012
14:28 @ Olive Garden w/ Lis, then off to work. [we had a gift certificate]
May 17th
I have a dishwasher repairman coming at 1 o'clock. That means I have to clean. Ugh.[it cost me $73 for him to tell me an egg shell had clogged a water line. Double ugh]
Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child ten years ago with a member of his household staff. Yikes.
Former Obama supporter Cindy Crawford now backs my boy Mitt Romney. I'm all for a Romney/Ryan ticket - America deserves some R&R!
Ryan will not run for Herb Kohl's seat, but it looks like my man Tommy Thompson is game! Whoo hoo! Welcome back Tommy, I missed ya.
RIP Harmon Killebrew
Watching The Voice on NBC w/ Lis and Erv, after a 2hr dWtS marathon
Arod hits two outta da park, leading my Yanks to victory. Hoo-ya.
Congrats to Prince Fielder for hitting his 200th home run.
May 12th
08:29 out for coffee w/ Lisa [this is as rare as snow in July]
@ least 68 people are dead in Pakistan as a result of Al-Queda attacks
May 13th
Master Yourself
you're up to the hubs in mud, stockjobber
Sen. Herb Kohl has announced he will not seek re-election
A man in the Canary Islands decapitates an apparent stranger in a supermarket
May 14th
Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew has announced he will be entering hospice
The silent movie "Saved From the Titanic" starring survivor Dorothy Gibson was released on this day in 1912. In the film she wore the same dress she work during the sinking. Sadly, the film was destroyed in a fire and no copy seems to remain.
An afternoon of compromise. W/ Lis & YaYa gone shopping, Netflix failed so I found a college gymnastics tourney for Lu to watch. We're starving, so I set out to make tuna casserole, but in the end found no soup, so we're eating noodles, peas, and tuna dry. Thankfully, Lu seems to love both. She's entranced by the gymnastics for sure.
May 16th
Lagniappe (lan-yap) This word is Cajun for "something extra," like the extra donut in a baker's dozen. An unexpected nice surprise.
20 years ago today (IIR the date right, and I usually do), I was confirmed in the Catholic Church. The retreat that preceded the ceremony was one of the turning points in my life. There was a clear, defined moment when I looked at who I was and who I wanted to be and realized the two were worlds apart. The last 2 decades would not be possible w/out that insight.
Before school LuLu and I went to the local high school in hopes of retrieving a necklace she'd left behind after a [rec swim] class this past weekend. I didn't think there was a chance in hell of it still being around, but lo and behold there it be. Storing it in a broken locker with a smashed, askew door probably helped her cause.
The Sahara Casino in Las Vegas is closing after 58 years
Given 10 min unsupervised, Lump decorated the vanity, sink, toilet, her clothing and her face with lipstick & eye shadow. We cleaned it up, yelled at her, & then sat down in the living room. I still had an angry, PO'd look on my face. "Just drop the act, she's out of the room" Lis said. "You know you live for this sh-t." I LOL'd - she's right.
Donald Trump has announced he is NOT running for President in 2012
14:28 @ Olive Garden w/ Lis, then off to work. [we had a gift certificate]
May 17th
I have a dishwasher repairman coming at 1 o'clock. That means I have to clean. Ugh.[it cost me $73 for him to tell me an egg shell had clogged a water line. Double ugh]
Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child ten years ago with a member of his household staff. Yikes.
Former Obama supporter Cindy Crawford now backs my boy Mitt Romney. I'm all for a Romney/Ryan ticket - America deserves some R&R!
Ryan will not run for Herb Kohl's seat, but it looks like my man Tommy Thompson is game! Whoo hoo! Welcome back Tommy, I missed ya.
RIP Harmon Killebrew
Watching The Voice on NBC w/ Lis and Erv, after a 2hr dWtS marathon
Arod hits two outta da park, leading my Yanks to victory. Hoo-ya.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Netflix rocks. End of story.
This is less of a post than a request for people to get a grip.
A few months ago Netflix raised its prices to - gasp! - about $16 a month for unlimited streaming plus DVD by mail service. From the outcry it raised you'd have thought they started charging people for the oxygen they breathe, instead of, you know, an optional entertainment expense.
I love Netflix. Nay, I ADORE Netflix, and I'm left speechless at the short term memory of all the haters out there. $16 a month for unlimited streaming and a constant rotation of DVD's is nothing, even for someone as poor as I am. It's less than the cost of two movie tickets, and about the cost of four rentals from Blockbuster. (not including the late fees, the cost of gas to get to the shop, etc.)
You remember Blockbuster? The shady promotions, the high cost of rentals, the shoddy service, and the late fees up the yazoo. You wanna return to that, or reward them by frequenting their streaming service? Go right ahead, sucker.
Ah, but then there's the complaints that the streaming service has a 'limited' inventory, and that it just isn't 'worth it'. I have 474 films/shows in my instant queue right now. If you can't find something to watch, I assure you, your tastes are too pedestrian and stale. Go watch Transformers 3 again and tell us how its like, the greatest movie ever.
Now, in a rather sloppy move, Netflix has botched another PR gambit by announcing their spinning off their signature mail service to a separate site, Qwikster.com. Initially, it annoyed me too, because it seemed to me like they were abandoning the DVD portion of their business. That, of course, is exactly what they are doing. They're spinning it off knowing its a dinosaur in the making, and that it'll be easier to kill off a little used site than chop off half your company when the writing's on the wall. And that's ok, because it means they are trying to adapt and survive, and that's fine by me.
I'm a Netflix fan, and I hope I have the chance to remain one for many years to come.
Wipeout was pre-empted!
Very bitter that this bloated DWTS special has pre-empted Wipeout. I didn't work all day to be scorned in primetime ABC. I am not amused.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball
A wee bit of this, and a lot of that (with 'That' being quick movie reviews)
Let's lead with the big news of the day: The Sad Sack Slapjacks notched their first fantasy football win of the year (117.07 to 105.42) thanks in no small measure to stellar performances from K Rob Bironas and TE Gronkowski (not to mention a midweek addition of Mark Sanchez). Whew. 0-2 would have been devastating. I needed this win.
Today was also Smiley's 1st Tiger Scout Den meeting, and it went fine, although I wish it had been more structured.
As an assistant leader I'm going to have to make sure I have some fallback activities ready to go in the future.
Some reviews: I rented the medieval action film "Ironclad" in part on the strength of its cast. Paul James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Jason Flemyng, Derek Jacobi, Kate Mara, Brian Cox, etc. Sadly, that was the only real bright spot in this Magnificent Seven/Dirty Dozen vs King John pic. I thought it was needlessly gory, ret-conned religious and social views, and worst of all was pretty darn dull.
At least it introduced me to Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton, who seemed like a heck of a fellow.
Continuing a recent downturn in my luck with films, Lisa and I watched Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, a documentary on CoCo's 2010 tour in the wake of the Tonight Show fiasco.
We love Conan, but Lisa hit it on the head: at one point she stopped watching, saying his bitterness and treatment of his staff was taking the shine off our affection for him. By the end of the film, however, as some of the bitterness and anger leeched out, Coco seemed back to his 'normal' self, and the tone of the movie picked up.
There were a few laughs, but not nearly enough.
On the other hand, Arthur was a pleasant surprise.
No, more than that; it was a delight. It was sweet, funny, and well acted. Russell Brand continues to impress me as a genuine talent, not just an idiotic drunkard with a big mouth. We loved this movie. Go rent it right now. Go on - git.
You stuck around? Well, more the fool you, since the final review of the night is another Debbie Downer. The People I've Slept With is a comedy about a very (very) promiscuous woman who gets pregnant and seeks to determine the paternity. Lisa felt it was very pro-life, and I guess it is, but it was hard to snoop that out from among a dizzying array of flaws.
I don't think the writer did the actors any favors, but they sure repaid it in kind. This was some of the worst non-porn acting you'll find outside of a campfire skit at a special needs camp. My word, it was bad. (the only exception being 'Mr. Boring', and curse the director for limiting his screen time.)
Plus, I didn't dig the lame justification the narrator provided right at the start, rationalizing her insane promiscuity away as being nothing more than a case of a "woman with the mores of a man". Uh, no, hun. Even Charlie Sheen would draw the line shy of where this character stands (she has a stack of photos several inches thick, each one belonging to a man or woman she's slept with in the last seven weeks).
If you're going to make the character unself-consciously sex crazed, then stick with your guns and play it straight (no pun intended). There's no need to excuse it, and it's a crime to do so with a voluminous cliche.
Today was also Smiley's 1st Tiger Scout Den meeting, and it went fine, although I wish it had been more structured.
As an assistant leader I'm going to have to make sure I have some fallback activities ready to go in the future.
Some reviews: I rented the medieval action film "Ironclad" in part on the strength of its cast. Paul James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Jason Flemyng, Derek Jacobi, Kate Mara, Brian Cox, etc. Sadly, that was the only real bright spot in this Magnificent Seven/Dirty Dozen vs King John pic. I thought it was needlessly gory, ret-conned religious and social views, and worst of all was pretty darn dull.
At least it introduced me to Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton, who seemed like a heck of a fellow.
Continuing a recent downturn in my luck with films, Lisa and I watched Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, a documentary on CoCo's 2010 tour in the wake of the Tonight Show fiasco.
We love Conan, but Lisa hit it on the head: at one point she stopped watching, saying his bitterness and treatment of his staff was taking the shine off our affection for him. By the end of the film, however, as some of the bitterness and anger leeched out, Coco seemed back to his 'normal' self, and the tone of the movie picked up.
There were a few laughs, but not nearly enough.
On the other hand, Arthur was a pleasant surprise.
No, more than that; it was a delight. It was sweet, funny, and well acted. Russell Brand continues to impress me as a genuine talent, not just an idiotic drunkard with a big mouth. We loved this movie. Go rent it right now. Go on - git.
You stuck around? Well, more the fool you, since the final review of the night is another Debbie Downer. The People I've Slept With is a comedy about a very (very) promiscuous woman who gets pregnant and seeks to determine the paternity. Lisa felt it was very pro-life, and I guess it is, but it was hard to snoop that out from among a dizzying array of flaws.
I don't think the writer did the actors any favors, but they sure repaid it in kind. This was some of the worst non-porn acting you'll find outside of a campfire skit at a special needs camp. My word, it was bad. (the only exception being 'Mr. Boring', and curse the director for limiting his screen time.)
Plus, I didn't dig the lame justification the narrator provided right at the start, rationalizing her insane promiscuity away as being nothing more than a case of a "woman with the mores of a man". Uh, no, hun. Even Charlie Sheen would draw the line shy of where this character stands (she has a stack of photos several inches thick, each one belonging to a man or woman she's slept with in the last seven weeks).
If you're going to make the character unself-consciously sex crazed, then stick with your guns and play it straight (no pun intended). There's no need to excuse it, and it's a crime to do so with a voluminous cliche.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Some TV
I just finished watching Ashton Kutcher's debut on Two and a Half Men. I enjoyed it and found myself smiling/LOL several times. Maybe the show has some fuel left in the tank after all.
Digging the brunette on '2 Broke Girls'. The show's not bad either.
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